Passover 1865: Lincoln Assassination
Events out of context often float adrift in time. April 14, 1865 has become important as the day that John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln. For Americans of the Jewish faith, it was also Passover. I share the following snippet to revisit how it felt during these under-discussed moments of the War Between the States. Chapters in American Jewish History Of Civil Seders in the Civil War For American Jewry during the Civil War, the Passover story was especially powerful. Northern soldiers saw clear parallels between the Union freeing the South's slaves and Moses leading the ancient Hebrews out of Egypt. However, creating a seder during in a war zone requires flexibility and creativity. In 1862, the Jewish Messenger published an account by J. A. Joel of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Regiment of a seder celebrated by Union soldiers in Fayette, West Virginia. Joel and 20 other Jewish soldiers were granted leave to observe Passover. A soldier home on leave in Cincinnati shipped matzot and ha...